Nigerians in Canada and other foreigners in the North American country, would soon be banned from buying real estate properties.
The ban, which will last for a period of two years, is an attempt to shelve the way prices of homes are increasing in Canada.
Bloomberg quoted someone familiar with the matter as saying that the development would be contained in Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s budget.
The foreign-buyer ban, which includes Nigeria, will not, however, be applicable to students, foreign workers, or foreign citizens who are permanent residents of Canada.
What Nigerians in Canada should know about homes
- Home prices in Canada have soared more than 50% over the past two years. The market saw a record monthly increase in February as buyers acted ahead of rate increases by the Bank of Canada, taking the benchmark price of a home to C$869,300 ($693,000).
- In last year’s election campaign, Justin Trudeau’s party also suggested a ban on “blind bidding” for properties, which is the current practice of keeping offers hidden when someone is auctioning a home.
- Blind bidding has been criticized for hastening price increases, with properties occasionally selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars more than the asking price. Some argue that secret bidding encourages potential buyers to make the best offer they can.
- The country’s real estate agents’ trade association has now withdrawn its support for the practice.
- On Wednesday, the Canadian Real Estate Association unveiled a pilot initiative to display real-time offers on properties posted on Realtor.ca, the association’s own listing website.
